The Minsk International Book Fair is an excellent platform for meetings between authors and publishers, State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia Grigory Rapota said as he attended the opening of the 27th edition of the Minsk International Book Fair, BelTA has learned.

“Todays' event is perfect for communicating, networking, and getting familiar with the best works of literature from all over the world. Minsk has been an excellent venue for meetings between authors and publishers for a long time. Minsk holds an important place in the history of publishing, it is associated with the names of Francysk Skaryna and Simeon of Polotsk, this is why it is the Belarusian capital that brings together people who work in the publishing,” Grigory Rapota said.

According to him, it is a pleasure to meet people at such an event. “This is because the fair is all about intellect, goodwill, and getting to know each other. We congratulate everybody on the opening of this great event. The Union State Standing Committee makes its small, but, it seems, useful contribution to the development of ties at this event,” Grigory Rapota added.

He stressed that 2020 is a special year for a lot of countries. “This year we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Victory and will publish a number of books timed to this occasion. We are currently working on a two-volume book about the Battles of Rzhev that will tell about little-known facts from the history of the Great Patriotic War,” he said.

The 27th edition of the Minsk International Book Fair will be running in the exhibition complex at 14 Pobediteley Avenue through 9 February. The program of the fair features a lot of business and cultural events: roundtables, master classes, discussions, workshops from artists and illustrators, book presentations, and meetings with authors. The fair has brought together around 400 exhibitors from 30 countries. The fair is held under the slogan “Belarus is an Open Book”. The Russian Federation is the guest of honor of the 27th edition of the book fair and the United States is its central exhibitor.